From Clutch MOV to Clutch Collective
Photo by Michelle Waters - Eye by Savannah Winters
Before Clutch Collective, there was Clutch MOV. In fact, this month marks ten years since we first introduced Clutch MOV to the Mid-Ohio Valley with our official soft opening at Thrive Café. What began as a creative way to share local stories grew to become so much more. What, exactly, is hard to say - because it was always more than a magazine. A full decade later, it feels like the right time to reflect on where we've been and where we're going.
Clutch MOV started with the idea that it shouldn't be difficult to find out what's happening in our region and that more people ought to know about the really interesting things going on in the Mid-Ohio Valley. Based on free print publications in larger cities like Cincinnati, Clutch MOV was a hyper-local online publication that delivered creative coverage of our community's rich culture and local flavor.
It began modestly with a DIY website and self-authored stories about local artists, musicians, and restaurants, along with recipes, film reviews, and profiles from friends and local writers. Over the years, the team grew to include dozens of talented local writers and photographers contributing stories. From local theatre productions and music festivals to restaurant reviews and interviews, we did our best to cover our community with professionalism, highlighting local businesses and events with the same enthusiasm that we would share for our favorite travel destinations.
Photo by Melanie Tienter - Fun fact, I had the flu that day!
Clutch MOV was built on the belief that big things can happen in small towns too. We have the same ability to harness our collective, creative energy as larger metro areas and do something new and exciting. So we did.
We did this not just through published stories, but through a multi-faceted approach to brand building - with the brand being, essentially, the Mid-Ohio Valley. From the beginning, Clutch MOV has been about changing the way people view the MOV and we always knew social media had to play a large role. We started an Instagram account not to simply share the same content we were publishing on Facebook or our website, but to start an online community based on the idea that there’s more to the MOV than meets the eye. We started by posting our own photos while trying to encourage our followers to join us by using #livelovemov. Once it started to catch on, we began sharing more photos from our followers so that together, we could write a new narrative for this place we call home.
#Livelovemov means quite a lot to me. Yes, it's a hashtag - but it's also an embodiment of our mission and a call to action. Most importantly, it's local - if you follow the feed, you'll see photos from local people and local businesses. To date, the tag has been used more than 50,000 times on Instagram - with more than 45,000 of those posts being from the community and not our account. Take a moment to appreciate what that means. It means that we are a community that takes pride in this place we call home.
It was also important to us that we created space for the community to come together and experience new things so part of our mission from the start was to host a few community events each year. We partnered with Just A Jar and Marietta Brewing Company to host a Pints & Prints event where attendees sampled craft beer and printed local-lovin' Valentines. We partnered with Laura (also known as my mom!) to promote her Marietta Marketplace events, where we built relationships with the many artists in our region. We held local instameets (Instagram meet ups), live performances, and we even hosted an event focused on sustainable food systems!
Over the years we launched our own line of locally-focused products with designs we created in partnership with local artists (which you can still shop at Wit & Whimzy), a podcast, a couple of print publications, a one-stop community events calendar, The Best of the MOV readers' choice contest, a beloved email newsletter that became a primary source for local happenings, and custom GIF stickers, among other things. We also partnered with local organizations to host Mid-Ohio Valley Restaurant Week and the MOV Entrepreneur of the Year award. We sponsored events, we attended community dialogues, and we made sure we were active participants in our own communities. We were members of Local Independent Online News (LION) Publishers and at the height of the pandemic, we received a grant from Facebook that allowed us tell more stories during a difficult time for our community.
Photo by Nate Knobel - Prints by Just A Jar Design + Press
So why am I writing in past tense? For one, Clutch MOV did all of these things as a group of passionate volunteers, not a paid staff. What we were doing to fill the need is now being accomplished by fully-staffed teams. While there are many reasons for why I decided it was time to close the doors on Clutch MOV, all of them are a testament to the success of what we collectively accomplished together. For eight years, Clutch MOV was a source for positive local stories and local events, and when it began, it was difficult to find information about local happenings on social media. Now there are a number of organizations that amplify local events, businesses, people, and projects. We accomplished our goal.
However, our mission - to celebrate culture, community, and creativity - lives on through Clutch Collective. Over the years, we've built relationships with the many artists in our region through sharing their stories, partnering on projects, hosting events, and making space for local creativity. Truly, our local creative community has been our biggest supporter over the years and I wanted to return the favor. I always wanted Clutch MOV to have a physical space to host live music and art exhibits - and, I wanted to continue to shine a light on local artists. So, when Wit & Whimzy moved out of 152 Front Street into their expanded space next door, the dream manifested.
Photo by Michelle Waters
Two years into being a shop owner, it feels like we’re finally hitting our stride. We've maintained an active email list and are back to sending long-form newsletters twice a month with features on local artists and creative happenings. We're hosting live music and artist pop-ups in the shop. We have other plans in the works, too, and hope to be able to continue to create new experiences for this community that we love so much. After years of supporting our local small businesses, I’m thrilled to now be a small part of our brick-and-mortar community.
More than anything, I’m grateful. Some of you reading this right now have been following Clutch MOV since our little soft opening in March 2014. Maybe you pledged to support our first Kickstarter, or you remember our Pints & Prints event in Just A Jar's upstairs studio. Maybe you're new and just started following our shop or you were part of the Clutch MOV writing team. However you came to connect with us, thank you. Thanks for sharing your local moments using the #livelovemov tag and reading our stories and supporting local artists. You are part of something really special - this positive movement and growing momentum building here in the Mid-Ohio Valley. Clutch MOV's era might have ended but it was really just the beginning for all of the good things happening in our region. We're here for all of it - and we hope you'll stay with us, too.
I want to give a special shout-out to the dozens of people - over 100! - who contributed to Clutch MOV over the years. Clutch MOV only existed because of our talented writers, photographers, and volunteers. What we built together represented the vision of a community, not just one person. I will forever be grateful to every one of you. Thank you for everything!